Decibel and heavy-metal illustrator Mark Rudolph go way back; if you’ve ever cracked open an issue of Decibel or read Metal Gods, then you’re certainly familiar with his work. After years of appreciating it in various mediums and publications, you can finally own it for yourself all in one place: Profane Creations: the Metal Art of Mark Rudolph is a new art book that compiles the last decade of Rudolph’s work. From t-shirts to caricatures to album covers, posters, flyers and more!
In addition to the high-quality images included in Profane Creations, you get commentary and notes from Rudolph, giving you never-before-had access to process of creation. Featuring work for bands like Carcass, Autopsy, Broken Hope, Dismember, The Black Dahlia Murder, Paradise Lost, King Diamond and Celtic Frost, many of whom you can see in the gorgeous cover art unveiled today by Decibel, Profane Creations covers extreme metal from the ’80s to today.
“The idea of doing a book about your career could be seen as an exercise in ego stroking, but while putting this together, I realized that it was as much a love letter to the genre of music that has shaped my entire life as it is a gallery of my selected work,” Rudolph says of the book.
“When I was approached to put this book together, I thought I should be as comprehensive as possible. I have done all types of work from standup comedy posters, murals, comic books and design work, but upon seeing how varied some of the subject matter was, I decided to focus just on my metal-related work. It took some of the attention off of me as a subject and put it on something larger…heavy metal.
“Not being a musician myself, I still wanted to be a part of the burgeoning extreme metal scene of the early 90s, so I started a ‘zine with a buddy of mine. I cut my teeth on designing layouts and drawing artwork, but my art had its origins in comic books and at that time there wasn’t much room for that style in the scene. I went on to work for a few labels and became a professional designer, but never did I think I’d be able to pair my two artistic loves together. Profane Creations is that union.
“It’s my absolute honor to be able to present a curated selection of my work in a beautiful large format like this. I hope you enjoy flipping through this tome and seeing how many of your favorite bands I made look ridiculous.”
In addition to the bands he’s worked with, Rudolph has been an indispensable part of Decibel‘s history, as editor-in-chief Albert Mudrian explains:
“Mark’s depth-of-subject knowledge, attention to detail, and old school references have been an integral part of Decibel since 2009. We’ve had a front-row seat to his stunning evolution, and now, so do YOU.”
Don’t blow your chance to grab that front row ticket: Profane Creations hits the streets on November 19 but you can pre-order it now!
